Stormchaser

Vana doesn't say that she is hungry, but once the offer is made her hungry eyes don't leave the pan, like a dog looking at a particularly tender steak.

"Is it noble if I just want to make them hurt?" she asks. "And that I came here to help myself just as much?"

She shakes her head as though to clear the thought and follows Ever inside. "I'll also take a shower and a change of clothes, if you have them."

Wyndon Stadium, past

"So, another Kirlia," Hoops mutters, thinking to themself. They look at the scoreboard, which shows that they are down two pokémon. "It wouldn't be the best matchup, but I don't want to use Kec just yet."

They hold up one of their two remaining pokéballs. "You up for this one?" The ball shakes in a way that they are about ninety percent sure means yes. "Well in that case, Led, I choose you!"

They send out Led, who spreads her arms to take in the lights of the stadium. Hoops notices them as well. "What do you say we use those to our advantage?" they ask.

Led nods. <You know me so well.>

"Use Light Screen!" Led focuses on the lights of the stadium and draws them towards her, compressing them into a barrier of light that folds around her and moves with her. "That will keep those two back a bit," Hoops notes.

Ed hops backwards and watches RiRi's flight, shaking off the tension in his left leg from striking the Azurill's tail. <Nicely played, kid!>, he calls out.

Mitchell sees Xaster and RiRi conversing about something, and he decides to seize the momentum. "Edmond," he orders, "get in close and use Revenge."

Ed nods, then charges at RiRi. As he thrusts his right foot forward to strike the Azurill, he calls out his name for Revenge. <Wounded Beast Crush!>

Jubilife City Outskirts

-DIE.-

-anyone with Mallory at this unfortunate instant may observe an armored figure stomping up to them, shaking— -

-anyone with Mallory at the moment of their death might witness a soldier in a matte black shell, exuding chilly menace-

Alumnus: Time's up.

-she might be flanked by Starly, dazed-

-she's alone.-

Alumnus: You're done. Finished. Bell's rung, you're dismissed.

-but then, maybe not-

Veilstone, past

-Suiko blinks-

Suiko: ...I hope the hospital did a good job.

-with...no recognition...?-

Suiko: There's, s...someone I know.

(-someone important I know-)

Suiko: And...someday the person under the masks's going to learn not to give out incriminating information. -_-

"Cloud": -flat, indicating Daydre- This one's fine.

-Suiko steps back from Daydre and startles at Rogue-

Suiko: ...Right! Yes, you were there. And I, also, was there. I, Suiko,

"Bug": -pointing at Rogue- Ohoho, exposition time! Suiko: All of you are very familiar.

"Bug": -inhales, long-winded-

"Cloud": -jabs- Skip to the important part.

"Bug": Suiko here was mind-controlled and we're here to track down the source! >:D

"Cloud": -mutter- And punch her in her smug fucking face.

-...-

Suiko: -strained- ...Aurabolts business. Maybe ex-Aurabolt.

Jublife Streets

Jared: "Yeah! See that airship?"

-he points to a yellow airship hovering in the distance-

Stormchaser, Lux Zone

-They do in fact have berry stew-

Iris: "You find anything good?"

Hearthome Contest Hall

-Neon darts out of the way sends out Fret, who attempts to lunge at the Togepi with a Fishious Rend. Coil sends out a Raichu and Iris sends out a Vaporeon, who use Thunderbolt and Hydro Pump-

???

Victor: "...Yes it's them! Pavo, mission update! Seize the girl in red and the boy in blue as well!"

Hearthome Contest Hall

Pavo: ~Mission update! Seize the girl in red and the boy in blue as well!~

Route 8

Olivia: <So I think all we need to do is put the Shell Stones in the receptacles...>

Jubilife Streets

Maxime and Kliff look up and notice the gigantic airship

Whoa! I'm guessing that is, uh, the stormchaser? Can you, like, bring us in or something? Um, if that is okay, of course. I don't want to, um, impose or anything.

Maxime is visibly nervous.

Wyndon Stadium, VS Hoops

Evelyn: Mirai! Show Led some love with Draining Kiss!

-Mirai skips merrily across the battlefield towards led, before jumping up and trying to give the Five Star Pokémon a peck on the cheek.-

Kanto Route 8

-Ian and Evelyn arrive with their Shell Stone.-

Me: Ꝑ1.5 million well spent.

Stormchaser

-Ever flips the eggs again, replacing the pan with a plate, and hands it to Vana-

Ever: I'll let you in on a secret. Your motivations aren't that important. Doing something good always counts.

If you head down...that hallway, just keep trying doors until one unlocks for you, and that'll be your new room. It should have a shower. Clothes... Eh, my cousin's currently someone else's problem, she can't mind too much if I let you borrow hers.

Jubilife Outskirts

-Mallory, doing their best to be helpful, drops dead-

-their training partners respond problematically to this-

Percy: Oh, gods.

Axiom: <It was really too much to expect that we'd be left alone forever.>

Shrike the Scrafty: <Was it really?>

Apple-A-Day: ... (to the Alumnus) You know that isn't going to work, right?

Strange Place, yesterday

-In the midst of gaming-

Chiyo: ...This is the weirdest game of Mario Kart I've ever played.

Fun though, right?

Route 211 West, tonight

Chiyo: -Looking out at the stars- It's better viewing than yesterday.

Dactyl: <Definitely.>

...

Dactyl: <...>

...We're being watched.

-Both turn around to see... a Cleffa peering at them through the grass-

Eterna City, The Other Day

Xaster hears the command and sees Edmond incoming. "Oh shit," he mutters. "RiRi, use Bubble Beam, now!"

RiRi fires a stream of bubbles towards Edmond, hoping to take him down before he can get too close.

Hearthome Contest Hall

"The boy in blue and the girl in red..." Xaster repeats. "Okay, boss, got it. Ultimate Togepi Show Time!" The giant Togepi uses something akin to a Flash attack, which would create an effect similar to a flashbang for everyone nearby. Xaster uses the confusion that is created to try and grab Coil, while the Togepi attempts to wrap its stubby arms around Iris.

Wyndon Stadium, Past

"Air Slash!" Hoops commands. Led unleashes a few dozen blades of sharpened air that fly towards Mirai as she tries to get close enough for the attack. At the same time she begins to back up, to increase the distance that Mirai will have to go and give her more time to get in a hit.

Stormchaser

Vana takes the plate and carefully sets it on a table in front of her. She looks around, as if to ensure that no-one is coming to take the food, and then devours it in a matter of seconds. She then disappears out of the room and appears approximately five minutes later, with wet hair and some new clothes that are slightly too large for her.

She pushes the plate towards Ever and gives a questioning look, before beginning to speak. "So, I can give you the location of at least a few School hideouts, and information on some of the people. I also have this memory stick I created with a computer virus in it - I don't know how much damage it will do, but it's something at least. In return I want forgiveness for any crimes I may or may not have committed while with the School, and I want medical care."

Edited by theoncominghoop on Apr 28th 2022 at 9:47:52 AM

Stormchaser

-Ever sits down at the other end of the table, taking out their phone and tapping down some notes-

-they only look up when the plate is pushed towards them-

Ever: Medical help, yeah, sure. I can get you in touch with some people.

The second part? I'd ask if you've ever met a police officer, but the answer's probably no...there's not necessarily a lot we can do if someone comes calling, but your old organization seems to have a pretty good handle on making sure anything you did when you were with them has been covered up. And I doubt the police will put in more effort than they need to.

There are some things that are between you and victims, though, hm? Someone comes to this airship looking for revenge, you might need to talk things out.

Stormchaser

"I'm not talking about any kind of legal pardon," Vana says. "But I've done some shit. I betrayed the first person who was ever nice to me, and left them for dead after I helped to kill them. I don't care about the police, because that probably won't be a problem for me. I just want the people here to not look at me and think of just the mistakes I've made, rather than what I'm trying to do to make up for it. I want to be able to forget it."

Stormchaser

-Ever digests this for a bit-

Ever: I've got good news and bad news.

The bad news is that it's not in my power to forgive you, and there's no option to forget. You're always going to be the person who did all that stuff. You're never going to be free of the opinions of the people around you. It's an unfortunate aspect of the human condition— Pokemon condition too, I have been made to understand. The bad stuff doesn't go away.

The good news is that that isn't the end of the story. You've met me now, and I don't know you for your mistakes. I know you as someone who made an incredibly difficult choice, got out of a bad situation, and found help. Because that's the corollary here. You're always going to be the person who did all the stuff you regret, but you have a chance now to become a person who does things you won't.

Ed takes RiRi's Bubble Beam head on. This is a tactic he had used many times, both before and after his capture by Mitchell, to enhance his Wounded Beast Strike and turn his inability to dodge into an advantage. Unfortunately for Ed, the barrage of bubbles strikes him at the worst possible moment: while his right leg was thrust out, leaving only his left touching the ground.

The force of the bubbles knocks Ed backwards, sending him to the ground flat on his back. The shock of the impact causes him to cry out in pain.

"ED!", Mitchell yells, about to dash into the battlefield before he sees a sight that roots him in place.

Ed's arm is raised, pointing straight into the sky. <Let me,> he pants between breaths, <finish this, Sensei. I'm not, done yet!> With those words, he rises to a sitting position through sheer force of will-

-before giving a kindly smile to RiRi. That is all he can do before he collapses back to the ground, unconscious.

Gav, realizing what is about to happen, hurries to Mitchell's stroller to grab medical supplies for the other Pokemon.

Now, Mitchell dashes into the battlefield, cradling Ed's prone form in his arms. "I'm sorry, Ed," he murmurs. "I'm so, so sorry." He does not notice that Ed is still smiling, even while unconscious.

Stormchaser

Vana thinks about this for a moment. "Fine," she finally says. "I'll take what you've said under advice. In the meantime, how long is it before we can take the fight to the School?"

As she waits for an answer, she gets up and goes to the fridge, looking through the food inside. To her dismay, a lot of the food inside is inedible without being cooked first, so she takes a carrot and begins to take raw bites out of it.

"I just think," she continues. "The sooner the better, you know? If we act quickly, we could probably have them on the run by this time next week."

Eterna City, The Other Day

"Machop is unable to battle!" Hoops says. "Therefore the winner of the battle is Xaster!"

"Yes!" Xaster and RiRi high five, before they go over to Mitchell and Edmond. "Is he okay?" he asks. "I might have some berries somewhere, if you want them."

Edited by theoncominghoop on Apr 28th 2022 at 1:34:19 PM

Xaster's words snap Mitchell out of his reverie. "He's out cold," he says, "but a Pokemon Center can fix that." No such luck fixing my incompetence, he thinks to himself.

<Or one of these,> Gav says, having appeared next to Mitchell and Ed with a Revive in his jaws.

"Oh, thank you, Gav," Mitchell says, as he takes the Revive from him and applies it to Ed. "There is one thing," he adds, addressing Xaster. "If you've got any berries that cure paralysis, would you spare one for Becky?"

Jubilife City Outskirts

Alumnus: -laughing bitterly- I know now.

-she tosses a Pokéball containing nothing between herself and people she doesn't give a second glance-

Alumnus: -stalking forward- Was it too much to ask that you stay dead, Mallory?

-kneeling- Can I call you Mallory? Tin feels so—

-crack!-

Alumnus: Depersonalizing.

-she probes into them for any sign of continued activity, and responds to any attempt at intervention with a generic telepathic onslaught-

(-at some point, she got over the childish need for recognition-)

Veilstone, past

-she shakes her hands off, ruffling the tassels(?) on her shredded gray cloak-

Suiko: Look, none of you need to come.

-"Bug" gasps dramatically. "Cloud" stares, deadpan-

Suiko: The occupant of this Palace...thrives on no one really knowing what's up with her. I spent a lot of time here if mostly metaphorically, and I'm not scared of what I'll find, any more. But she fucks up anyone who comes close, and if one person comes out of this acting weird, this time you know who to look for.

She's not that scary. She's just...

-she glances over at Tagg and Rogue, face pained-

Suiko: ...help or no, is it at all rehabilitating to deal with massive identity theft and loss of volition?

"Cloud": -scowl- And not talking about it?

"Bug": -breezily- Obviously this is a solitary-burden sort of story. I for one am impressed you're taking all this on yourself, hero.

"Cloud": -...stare?-

-Suiko glares at them, befuddled-

Edited by Asterisk395 on Apr 28th 2022 at 10:10:31 AM

Kanto Route 8

"Already in there," Kendall agreed, his stone fading into black wisps at the same time it appeared where it needed to.

Kanto Route 8

Me: Alright.

-Ian puts the Shell Stone he won at the Auction into the receptacle where it belongs.-

Stormchaser

Ever: Ah. Hm. Acting quickly is not this group's strong suit. And you may be underestimating what will put the School on the run— I don't think a handful of trainers, even fairly competent ones, is the threat to them that you maybe do.

Maybe let's focus on that medical care thing first, you can give us the information you have, and I'll get it to the people who can use it.

Jubilife City Outskirts

Apple-A-Day: Actually, it is too much to ask!

-of the four surviving people present, one is Axiom, who has some practice dealing with Schoolchildren, even powerful ones-

-the barriers are already going up-

-one is Shrike, who is generally unimpressed by this sort of psychic bullshit-

-one is Percy, who is hard to draw a bead on with psychic stuff owing to the immense amount of obscura saturating her body at any given moment, but is refraining from acting owing to a deep and paralyzing fear of more or less this situation exactly-

-the fourth is Apple-A-Day, so they promptly take a telepathic blast head-on-

Percy: Apple!

Apple-A-Day: It is Apple-A-Day, ma'am...

-Percy hobbles to Apple-A-Day's side, placing hands against their temples-

-Mallory is dead, Alumnus-

-can't you tell when someone's dead?-

-also, there is a Medicham going after you with a Thunder Punch, so maybe pay attention to that-

Jubilife City Outskirts

-Axiom's Thunder Punch is preempted by a sort of lightning rod:-

Zen: ~A fine mental defense.~

-a Bullet Punch to the face-

Zen: ~How fares the physical?~

-the electricity crackles through their arm; if this pains them, they have plenty of experience not showing it-

-Medicham to Medicham, they eye Axiom (and Shrike) with all the cool, collected calm of someone who really, really needs to be better than this-

Alumnus: No, no no, you don't get it. Nothing's too much to ask.

~Once you know how.~

-there's a lot on autopilot at the moment—while the conscious reels, in lieu of anything particularly origi Apple-A-Day reaches up to strangle Percy-

-I thought I knew.-

Alumnus: -to the corpse- You're in so many memories. This...meek little liquid bait. Your tendons had the same give to them the first time. It was so easy. Too easy...

-her laughter through the vocoder warbles like a child's-

Alumnus: -shaking- So when they made me deal with your bodies, I didn't do it hard enough.

-she opens another ball—out comes an Infernape, raring to go-

Alumnus: Burn it. Then the skeleton.

John: <...erm.>

Zen: ~...hm.~

-the handful of Starly orbiting her make reckless dives for Shrike's face-

-the Alumnus stomps down, vindictive-

Edited by Asterisk395 on Apr 28th 2022 at 3:46:13 AM

Eterna City, The Other Day

"Well, I don't think I have any intact berries," Xaster says, digging through his bag. "You see, I make all of my berries into smoothies so that we can have them after morning aerobics. But here we go, I have some left over Cheri Berry smoothies."

He hands over the bottle, which is full of a reddish liquid. "She's not diabetic, right?"

Stormchaser

Vana stares at Ever. "But... you have to do something quickly. You... you're supposed to be the heroes. There are library books about you. There's a fucking yearly convention. At the School, we were told to treat you as our enemies because you were the biggest threat we might face. But you're telling me you can't do anything?"

She shakes her head. "It's bullshit. There are dozens, maybe hundreds of Schoolkids in those facilities - most of them believe in the School, and some don't, but either way they're living a life that they didn't choose. And you seriously can't do anything for them?"

She slams her memory stick down on the table. "There's the virus I mentioned. Give me a map and I'll show you where to go. I've committed to helping you help the ones like me, and I will. Can you commit? I suppose you don't have authority, but is there some kind of leader I can speak to? A council of elders? Something that will get me somewhere to end that living hell!"

Vana is almost shouting by the end. She takes a moment to calm herself, breathing slowly. "I'm sorry. I just... I don't have time to be patient. And there are others who have limited time as well. Sometimes when you're grown in a test tube and made to grow up too fast, it goes wrong, you know? I can already feel my body starting to break down, which means I probably have a few months to live at best. So like I say, I don't have time to wait."

Stormchaser

-Ever waits as Vana shouts. They purse their lips slightly, but give no other indication of reacting-

-they take a moment to gather their thoughts after she finishes speaking-

Ever: The books and conventions are lies, I'm sorry to say. There's probably an easier way of breaking that news, but I don't know it.

We're not an army. We're a bunch of people who live here. We've gotten some pretty amazing things done, but we're not magic, we're not...I wouldn't call us heroes. There are those of us who would get killed, if we did what you asked. Quite possibly most of us. Maybe for nothing, if we failed, and then what? You said it yourself— Do you know the School as well as you assume you do? Are you giving us nerve centers or appendages?

-they sigh-

I'll pass word around about this. See who I can recruit, what we can target. I'll put you in touch with my cousin and she can help you.

There are other Schoolkids on board this ship, by the way. A lot of them have lived longer than they expected to. If you want to talk to them about that, I think they might have more useful thoughts than mine. I wouldn't presume to lecture you on that, and I can't really picture any of them begrudging you the chance to talk.

Jubilife Outskirts

Axiom: <Mmmh.>

-she readjusts, shaking out the hand she just punched steel with-

-she's not bad in a fight, but...Zen feels like someone she shouldn't fuck with-

Axiom: <Shrike—>

Shrike: <Yeah, on it!>

-she rushes forward, and is promptly mobbed by Starly-

Shrike: <Okay, not on it not on it—>

-she kicks some rocks-

-while Axiom tries to fake out Zen with a stutter step-

-Percy breaks Apple-A-Day's grip pretty easily. She's a better hand-to-hand fighter, even if she's more fragile on the whole-

Percy: Sorry about this.

Apple-A-Day: Ack!

Percy: Run.

Apple-A-Day: I'm not leaving you behind to deal with her!

Percy: I-I can handle myself.

-her eyes flash and crackle-

-Alumnus, you are monologuing to a corpse-

-Mallory's neck breaks slightly more than it already had-

-so it's a little weird that their eyes then proceed to open-

-that and a bit of static are all the warning you get before Mallory, or at least their body, twists around with exceptional speed and aims a kick at you-

Edited by memyselfandI2 on Apr 28th 2022 at 2:30:48 AM

Stormchaser

Something about the way Ever is speaking makes Vana feel guilty for getting so angry. She looks at the ground. "I'm sorry," she says quietly. "For... yelling. It's just that the School..."

She sighs. "The way I see it, I was never supposed to exist. But the School threw me into existence and I've been suffering for it ever since. I don't know if other Schoolkids feel the same way. In fact, a lot of those that I have spoken to seem to enjoy the life that they have. But I just think that my life is one that has only existed as a negative, for myself and for the people around me."

Vana looks up, and there is a sort of fire in her eyes. "I don't want that to be my whole existence. I want to try and balance out the scale of my life. It's probably too late for me, but there are all those other Schoolkids, and I feel like if I can help them even a little bit then I can finally believe my existence is justified. That's why I was in such a rush, why I need the School to be destroyed. Maybe that's selfish, since at the end of the day I'm just thinking about myself."

"Like you said, I was just a Schoolkid, not even a Templar. I don't really know the School, I don't even know what they want. All I know is what they did to me. The way they raised us as weapons, and made us believe that was good. The way they pitted us against one another. The way they don't even tell us where our DNA comes from. And the way that they'll liquidate us if we step out of line. So even if all I can offer you is, like you said, appendages, I want to do everything that I can, because the School is evil."

And then she finally breathes. "Oh, and. I never actually asked you what your name was."

Kanto Route 8, far past

Ann: -Places her Shell Stone in a slot-

Strange Place, Tuesday

Groudon: -Turning back to normal- <Okay, I think we're done now.>

-To Groudon-

So what... is this place exactly?

Groudon: <A place between realms, accessible through the Slates you need those Shards to obtain. It's a thing Arceus came up with.>

Route 211 West, yesterday

-Both parties stare at each other for a few more seconds before Chiyo decides to walk over-

Chiyo: -Bending down- Are you out here to see the stars too, little one?

Cleffa: -Nods-

Chiyo: -Smiling- That's neat.

I do need more mons...

-Holding a hand out-

Do you have a name?

Cleffa: -Takes Chiyo hand and shakes her head- <No.>

Chiyo: Would you like to join me and have one? There'll be plenty of night skies just like this one.

Cleffa: -Eyes widen- <Okay!>

Chiyo: -Giggling slightly as she pulls out a Moon Ball, a novelty she acquired in Galar that she hadn't originally planned on using- Alright then, welcome to the team, Ceres.

Cleffa Ceres: -Bonks the Moon Ball with her head and is absorbed, the ball shaking once before falling still-

Chiyo: -Takes the Moon Ball before letting Ceres out- Okay, that's a new mon. First time I've ever had an actual new team member. Qinglong doesn't really count.

"Thanks," Mitchell says as he takes Xaster's offered bottle. "I don't think she's diabetic, but then again, I haven't thought to check." He then fetches out his Pokeballs and calls out his other Pokemon. "Becky, Chris, out you come."

As soon as they emerge, Chris notices Becky struggling to move. <Do you, um, need me to keep you up?>, she asks.

<I'm fine,> Becky lies, her face visibly straining to hold a smile. <Shooting stars like me can take m-more than->

"Here, Becky," Mitchell says to Becky, offering the bottle. "This is a Cheri Berry smoothie. It should cure your paralysis if you drink this."

<GIMME!>, Becky says, as she grabs and chugs the bottle a tad too swiftly for a Cleffa who had just claimed she was fine. Chris, Gav, Mitchell, and the just-awakened Ed share the same dumbfounded look in Becky's direction.

A moment later, Ed shares his congratulations to Xaster and RiRi. <Well fought, kid!>, he says to the Azurill. <Such quick instincts and mighty bubbles you wield! And you, noble Trainer,> he adds to Xaster. <have a noble spirit much like Sensei here. It is a great honor to fight you both!>

<He means "Thanks for the fight," by the way.>, Gav says, sardonically.

"I'd like to ask you two things," Mitchell says, oblivious to what his Pokemon were saying. "First, are all your Pokemon baby-types? Second, is it just my imagination, or do all of your Pokemon have one syllable of their species name repeated twice as their nickname?" He then slaps his forehead in embarrassment. "Sorry, those were weird questions. You don't need to answer them."